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My new saw is binding and stalling cutting 3/4" ply. Ideas?

07-01-2011, 12:58 PM

So my new saw (Ridgid 4512) has been running fine, took a while to heel the blade, etc, but I finally have cuts I’m happy with. I’ve put a new blade on (CMT 40T general purpose) and I’ve done maybe 20 linear feet of cutting in it? Maybe?

Anyhow today I put in a new Leecraft ZCI, cut it, and then started doing some test cuts in scrap 3/4” ply with my new Incra mitre gauge. All of a sudden the saw can’t cut 3/4” ply. The blade slows and has come to a complete stop after as little as 6” of cutting.

The blade seems sharp still, it hasn’t cut anything harder than 3/4 red oak, but out of the blue the saw is next to useless!

Comment

If it was a belt issue I would expect the motor the still spin, but it's stalling the motor.

I just checked the blade alignment and everything has slipped out on this saw. I'm really disappointed in this as the trunnions took five or six tries at adjusting before I could finally get it under 5 thousandths of an inch with the mitre slot.

Check to make sure your riving knife is not binding. If your new blade has a thinner kerf than your riving knife/splitter, it will bind in the kerf cut of the work piece and soon stall the saw. Try a short crosscut with your miter gauge using a board narrower than the width of the exposed blade. If it cuts just fine, it is likely binding on your riving knife. If it still bogs down, you have bigger problems. Or, your new blade is installed backward. If neither is the problem than the saw needs to go back.